Sump vs. wet dry vs canister

[Chiefmcfuz]

Which is better? Sump, Wet/Dry, or Canister filter? What are the pro's and cons of each? Which is better in your opinion.

 

[Deanos]

Eliminate sump; it is not a filter and does little to improve water quality. It's a container to hold items you don't water in the tank (skimmer, heater, etc.).

 

[Deanos]

Wet/Dry

Canisters

 

[marrone]

A sump will help to get rid of Co2 from the water. When the water comes into the sump you have gas exchanges from water breakage, so it does improve water quaility.

 

[marrone]

It really depends on what your going to keep in your tank as all 3 have plus and minus for each type of setup.

 

[Deanos]

Thanks Mike! Like I said, a sump does little to improve quality.

 

[herman]

In our tanks in this forum the main of filtration is the Live Rock Followed by our skimmers and high flow. Like Dean said the sump for me is a place to store all of that equipment. Skimmers dosers reactors of various kinds.

I stopped using wetdry filters a couple years back. Not that it was bad but it did not do a great job at keeping my nitrates low. Maybe it was just bad husbandry or lack of understanding at the time.

I left canister filters when I left fresh water fish. There are people however that keep successful tanks with canisters.

As for now I will stick to my sump overloaded with equipment.

 

[marrone]

I think people forget that wet/dry filters use to come with de-nitrates units built into them to help get rid of nitrates. As time went on these units where left out and what was left was a filteration system that produced nitrates with nothing to get rid of them. Now for a fish tank wet/dry systems work great as nitrates aren't that big of a worry as in a reef tank.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I was questioning this because at LFS I go to they have a 130 reef tank that used to have a wet dry now it is a sump. I only see a protien skimer inside with some live rock that's it. and the tank looks better now than with the wet dry.

 

[aaron]

A sump will let you put a much larger skimmer in your system than you could otherwise hang on the back and the increase volume of water helps keep you system more stable. So while it doesnt actively do anything a sump gives you the oportunity to filter your system more efficiently by adding things to it as well as freeing up the main display for more livestock stc.

 

[Deanos]

So while it doesnt actively do anything a sump gives you the oportunity to filter your system more efficiently by adding things to it as well as freeing up the main display for more livestock stc.

Good point Aaron.

A sump is just a fish room which fits under the tank . It is merely a holding vessel for items which do the actual filtration.

 

[marrone]

I was questioning this because at LFS I go to they have a 130 reef tank that used to have a wet dry now it is a sump. I only see a protien skimer inside with some live rock that's it. and the tank looks better now than with the wet dry.

What was happening was the wet/dry was producing nitrates so by changing it over to a sump you lose the "nitrate factory" that the wet/dry had become.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Ok so where did the chemical and mechanical filtration go? I see Biological with the live rock and I see the protien skimming but no other filtration. Nothing to pass the water through to filter out the "stuff" floating in it and no carbon type media either.

 

[Deanos]

They may have a filter sock in the sump to remove particulate matter from the water column. Carbon is not a necessity, so it may not be present at all.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Keep in mind I only have a protien skimmer and a penguin 330 on my 29 gal now. I am asking because I will hopefully be moving soon and when I do I will be setting up a new tank. Want to do it right from the start. A 75 gal tank can't only have a penguin 330 an a protien skimmer. I kind of figuere it's going to need a little more than that. :icon16:

 

[twinreef]

You can also put holders for carbon and many other things in a sump.

 

[marrone]

There are many different ways of setting up your tank, some people actually have great tanks without using a protein skimmer though it's better to have one. Some people just have live rock and a protein skimmer and it also works fine. Some people run canister filters for water movement and help with filteration and clean out the filter all the time. I just o run a Emperor filter on my 35hex for water movement and I would also use it to place a polypad in it and I didn't have a sump.

So there are many way you need to figure out what works best for you and what you tank setup is going to be.

 

[Deanos]

What will work best, totally depends on what you intend to put in the 75 gallon. Marrone has mentioned this several times already. A tank with a bunch of hermits and snails will have different requirements than a full blown SPS reef. What are your ultimate goals for the tank?

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

LOL I'm a big ole softie. I like soft corals. Like what I have now. just adding more rock and a few more soft corals and alot more room! I would like to add a couple more fish like a yellow tang and a wrasse maybe another undecided fish.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

i think a sump is beneficial to the system. if made the right way. 1st off it allows you to add a bigger skimmer. you can also add more live rock for converting waste. holds more water. if you have a 30 gallon tank and a 20 gallon sump you would have approx. 40 - 45 gallons of water in your system. gas exchange is also a plus. i dont really like wet dry and cannister systems because of the eventual nitrate problem. but everyone has there own theory.